The present invention relates to control channels for mobile devices that can operate according to different wireless technologies. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing control channel information to a mobile station in a wireless network with a unified control channel.
Currently, individual wireless radio frequency (RF) technologies utilize a set of control channels within the range of their RF band for various control functions, e.g., paging, cell identity, traffic channel assignment, etc. RF bands for various technologies include 800 MHz for the Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) system, 800 MHz for the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) system, 1.9 GHz for the IS-95 or IS-2000 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, 2.5 GHz for the Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) system, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz for Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) systems, and 5 GHz for the Unlicensed Nation Information Infrastructure (UNIT) system, for example. The messages carried in the control channel of these different wireless technologies are typically in different formats.
In a multi-technology network, which combines two or more of the RF technology bands, each of the technologies has its own set of control channels to provide services within the RF bands. For each technology, the proper control channel must be monitored to determine any activity within that technology, so that incoming and outgoing calls, messaging, voicemail notifications, etc. can be established within a mobile station when required. Scanning of the various RF technologies' control channels puts a burden on the electronics and reduces the life of a battery charge of the mobile station.